Meraque Services Sdn Bhd (Meraque), a Malaysian drone tech company signed a Document of Understanding (DoU) recently with local investment holdings company, Boustead Holdings Berhad (Boustead) to drive collaboration and active involvement in exploratory efforts of emerging technology especially in drone technology within the offerings of the group.
The DoU signing ceremony was held on 26th May 2022 at the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with Majlis Hari Raya Boustead 2022 where the documents were exchanged between Chief Executive Officer of Meraque, Md Razalee Ismail and Group Managing Director of Boustead Holdings Berhad, Dato’ Sri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly. The exchange was witnessed by Chairman of Boustead Holdings Berhad, Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof. The ceremony featured an indoor drone light show.
The DoU was signed to propose a collaboration for potential drone-related services and projects. As part of the partnership, Meraque will apply its technological offerings to Boustead’s businesses.
Leveraging on both parties’ strengths via market access and technological innovation, the collaboration will increase the solutions and offerings of both parties for the Malaysian market.
Furthermore, the partnership will see both parties collaborate in active exploratory efforts to identify potential usage of drone technology and expertise in areas such as Products (Drones and Unmanned Ground Vehicle [UGV]), Software Solutions (Artificial Intelligence [AI] & Systems) and tech talents (Drone Pilots).
The collaboration will also see creative exploration of drone performance in Arts for Boustead Group as well as Hotels and Resorts.
The DoU entailed the planning of a Drone Centre to look into the Group Operating Companies’ (OPCOs) problem statements and provide solutions using drone technology applications such as delivery, operations efficiency enhancements for agriculture, drone-related entertainment for indoor events and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) manufacturing.
Dato’ Sri Mohammed Shazalli said, “Boustead Holdings is excited to partner with Meraque to co-create and build upon drone technology capabilities for group-wide use as one of the key drivers towards our aspirations in championing Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) values for the business.
“This partnership is in line with our aim of supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the provision of products and services that deliver environmental, social and economic benefits which contribute towards the attainment of SDGs. Drone technology provides many unexplored benefits to support our ESG goal such as substantially reducing carbon dioxide [CO2] emissions and improving accessibility to products and services,” he added.
Md Razalee Ismail said, “Drones and their associated technologies possess a multitude of compelling potential for numerous industries and is proving to be a game-changer in industry transformation, thanks to their unparalleled benefits. Today, the application of drone technology is becoming widely used – from agriculture to medicine to logistics – as it delivers safer, cheaper and more efficient alternatives. This makes drone technology an opportunity-filled market that remains untapped.
Razalee Ismail continued, “We are elated to be partnering with Boustead to explore the application of Meraque’s offering into Boustead Group’s diverse businesses. I am confident that Meraque’s drone technology will complement Boustead’s diverse business, unlocking a plethora of new business opportunities.”
The drone technology industry has captured a steadily rising audience, with the global drone market forecasted to achieve US$41.3 billion in 2026 according to the Drone Market Report 2021-2026. According to a recent study by Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI), the Malaysian drone economy is expected to contribute RM50 billion to the GDP by 2030.